The Save the Triplex group held its first fundraising event “Bring Back the Movies” on Tuesday night, August 8, at Saint James Place in Great Barrington. The event featured a staged reading of iconic movie moments starring actors Karen Allen, Lauren Ambrose, Jayne Atkinson, Gregory Boover, Maconnia Chesser, Michel Gill, and Daniel Osman. Michelle Joyner directed the show, and Tom and Gigi Teeley performed the music.
The event was also a celebration of Save the Triplex’s recent purchase of the Triplex on July 24. The night was a true love-fest between the actors on stage and the sold-out audience. Under Director Extraordinaire Michelle Joyner’s hands, the scenes came alive.
Actor Jayne Atkinson said, “It was a wonderful and inspiring night, and you could feel the joy palpably in the room—the synergy of live theatre doing movie scenes! They all knew all the movies and songs, and we need this so much right now.”
We introduced the evening by thanking the nonprofit’s board for having worked so tirelessly to make the purchase of the Triplex possible. We also thanked the community for their help in volunteering and donating, both personally and financially. Artistic Director of Berkshire International Film Festival Kelley Vickery spoke about the importance of the role the Triplex played in making the film festival so successful and called it “the heart space of Great Barrington.”
Save the Triplex’s Vice-President of the Board Hannah Wilken then talked about the Triplex’s vision going forward, “Our goal is to create a community film center with offerings and events for all. Book clubs to talk about film adaptations, robust children’s programming, accessible screening, collaborations with local students, revival film showings, industry talks with directors and actors, blockbusters, and so much more.”
After the staged reading, a reception was held in Saint James Place’s community room. The co-chairs of the event, Lisa Newmann and Barbara Newman, had the room decorated with film strips hanging from the ceiling, red and white striped vases mimicking popcorn containers, with white hydrangea spilling out of the vases looking like overflowing popcorn. All the food was donated by Guidos for this special celebration.
The Triplex hopes to have a soft opening this fall with two of the four screens showing films by the holidays. For more information about the Triplex, please go to the website Savethetriplex.org.
